Everything You Should Know About Sierra Leone’s First Music Festival Coming Up This Year

Freetown Uncut, in collaboration with the National Tourist Board, yesterday announced the first ever music festival scheduled to be held at the Lumley Beach Road in Freetown on 23 and 24 April.

The music festival will bring people together to celebrate Sierra Leone’s resilience in the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak. Following months of negative headlines, Sierra Leonean musicians will demonstrate their wealth of musical talent in the country to the backdrop of the country’s beautiful beaches, said the organisers.

With key sponsors like Africell mobile company, Sierra Leone Bottling Company and Sierra Leone Brewery Limited, coordinator Edmond Nonie said the event would showcase the best live music in the country.

“From R and B and hip-hop to gospel and traditional, the festival will demonstrate the breadth of musical talent in Sierra Leone,” he said. “Freetown ‘Musicfest’ will have two main stages on Lumley Beach Road, both of which will be free to attend, with the objective of making it open to everyone in the country.”

Speaking on behalf of Africell, John Konteh said the company would ensure that the airwaves are filled with information about the festival through AI Radio and their partner community radio stations nationwide.

He stated that the festival would witness the display of the best music from Sierra Leone, adding that the company always associates with the best.

“This is not a new domain to Africell. We have supported and are still supporting the music industry in Sierra Leone in more ways than one by creating a pedestal, or call it platform if you like, for Sierra Leonean musicians to exhibit their potentials,” Konteh said.

Also, General Manager of the National Tourist Board, Yassim Kargbo, spoke about Sierrafest, which would include music, cultural and agricultural festival. The event, he said, would be used to rebrand and market Sierra Leone locally and internationally so as to attract investors.

He added that it would also help the country’s revenue mobilisation drive.